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23rd Division (Syrian rebel group)
|native_name_lang=Ar |war=the Syrian Civil War |image= Afrine 2018 23e division ASL (1).jpg |caption= Fighters of the 23rd Division, led by Col. Abu Mustafa, during the Turkish military operation in Afrin in February 2018. The group's flag can be seen in the background. |active=19 September 2013 – 25 July 2016 (as the 16th Division) July 2016 – present (as the 23rd Division) |ideology=Islamic democracy |leaders= *Colonel Hassan Rajoub (Abu Omar, since July 2016) *Col. Abu Mustafa *Abu al-Joud al-Homsi Former: *Col. Suleyman Shalal *Khaled Saraj ("Khaled Hayani") (2013–15) *Abdul Khaliq Lahyani (resigned in July 2016) |clans= *Badr Martyrs' Brigade *Descendents of Omar Battalions *Lions of the Revolution Brigade *Mustafa Martyrs Brigade *Hawks of Islam Battalions Former: *Yusuf al-'Azma Brigade *Saladin Ayubi Brigade *Free Syria Brigade **Arab Spring Brigade *Al-Aqsa Brigade |headquarters=Khalidiya District, Aleppo (2013–16) Qah, Idlib Governorate (2016–18) |area=Aleppo Governorate and northern Idlib Governorate, Syria |strength=+1,600 (own claim in 2014) |partof=* Free Syrian Army *National Front for Liberation Fatah Halab (2015–16) |next= |allies=* Ahrar al-Sham * Mountain Hawks Brigade * Knights of Justice Brigade * Levant Front * Fastaqim Union * Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement * * Al-Nusra Front (sometimes)Syria’s moderate opposition? The Week |opponents=* Syrian Armed Forces * Hezbollah * * Syrian Democratic Forces * Tahrir al-Sham (sometimes) |battles=Syrian Civil War *Battle of Aleppo **Aleppo offensive (October–December 2013) **Aleppo offensive (July 2015) **Aleppo offensive (October–December 2015) **Northern Aleppo offensive (February 2016) **Aleppo offensive (June–July 2016) *Al-Nusra Front-SRF/Hazzm Movement conflict *Turkish military operation in Afrin }} The 16th Infantry Division ( ) was a Syrian rebel group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army. Formed in September 2013, the group was active mainly in the city Aleppo and its surroundings. After rebel lines in Aleppo collapsed due to advances by the Syrian Army during the Battle of Aleppo in mid-2016, the 16th Division suffered heavy casualties and was dissolved. Remnants of the group then formed the 23rd Division ( ). History 16th Division in March 2018.]] The 16th Division was formed on 19 September 2013 as a merger of 10 rebel groups in the city of Aleppo. One of its subgroups, the Badr Martyrs' Brigade, was infamous for robbery, kidnapping, extortion, and most notably mass looting of factories in Aleppo districts and shipping truckloads of looted items to Turkey. In October 2013, the 16th Division's territory in northern Aleppo was overran by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. During the ISIL offensive, ISIL fighters captured a 16th Division base and found a large quantity of gold, cash in the form of United States dollars, hashish, and gas cylinders used in the production of hell cannons used by the group. In November 2013, in response to the "aggression" on their "brothers" of ISIL by the 16th Division, the al-Aqsa Brigade defected from the 16th Division. In January 2015, the al-Nusra Front captured 11 fighters from the 16th Division in Aleppo during the former's conflict with the Hazzm Movement. In response, the 16th Division called for the unconditional release of its fighters. On 7 December 2015, the 16th Division and the Knights of Justice Brigade conducted a joint bombing of the Syrian government defence laboratory in the central Khalidiya district of Aleppo. Since November 2015, the group took part in the indiscriminate shelling of Sheikh Maqsoud, which killed dozens of civilians and sparked a retaliation from the People's Protection Units (YPG), which killed several of its members in April 2016. During the northern Aleppo offensive (June–July 2016), the 16th Division suffered heavy casulties, including 29 killed, more than 54 wounded, and 7 missing, its headquarter overran, and its commanders, including the top leader, Abdul Khaliq Lahyani, resigned and was relieved of all duties. A new commander, former Syrian Air Force Colonel Hassan Rajoub, was appointed. Subsequently, the group went defunct. 23rd Division in February 2018.]] Following the 16th Division's dissolution in July 2016, remnants of the group, led by Col. Hassan Rajoub, regrouped and formed the 23rd Division. Since January 2018, the group have participated in the Turkish military operation in Afrin against the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the Afrin Region. On 28 February, Tahrir al-Sham besieged the headquarters of the 23rd Division in the village of Qah in the northern Idlib Governorate. After less than an hour of clashes, Tahrir al-Sham fighters captured the headquarter and seized equipment and weapons. In May 2018, along with 10 other rebel groups in northwestern Syria, the 23rd Division formed the National Front for Liberation, which was officially announced on 28 May. War crimes According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the 16th Division's Badr Martyrs Brigade, led by Khaled Hayani, was responsible for the deaths of more than 203 civilians, including 42 children, at least 25 women, and 136 men, with more than 900 wounded, 175 of them seriously, in the city of Aleppo between July and December 2014 with hell cannons and other mortars, in addition to improvised explosive devices. References Category:Anti-government factions of the Syrian Civil War Category:Anti-ISIL factions in Syria Category:Free Syrian Army Category:Military units and formations established in 2013 Category:2013 establishments in Syria Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 2016